Harsh Vardhan
The shooting of Michelle Williams-starrer ‘Dying for Sex’ is set to commence in New York early next year. Based on the Wondery podcast of the same name, the FX series revolves around Molly (Williams), who, after a diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer, decides to embark on a quest for self-discovery by leaving her husband of fifteen years. Encouraged and supported by her steadfast best friend Nikki, she courageously ventures into exploring her sexuality, with the former standing by her side until the very end.
The show was developed by Liz Meriwether and Kim Rosenstock, who also serve as showrunners. Meriwether garnered acclaim for the Hulu limited series ‘The Dropout’ and the enduring Fox comedy ‘New Girl.’ Additionally, she co-created and executive-produced comedies such as ‘Single Parents’ and ‘Bless This Mess.’ Rosenstock, a consulting producer of Hulu’s ‘Only Murders in the Building,’ has previous experience working on ‘New Girl’ and ‘Single Parents.’ Leslye Headland, the director, contributed to the Netflix series ‘Russian Doll‘ and served as the head writer and one of the executive producers of Disney+/Lucasfilm’s ‘Acolyte.’ The filmmaker also directed Freeform’s ‘Single Drunk Female.’
The drama series marks Williams’ return to FX, where she previously portrayed Gwen Verdon in the 2019 limited series ‘Fosse/Verdon,’ which earned her a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie. The recent credits of the actress, who received her fifth Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of Mitzi Fabelman in Steven Spielberg’s ‘The Fabelmans,’ include Lizzie Carr in ‘Showing Up’ and Anne Weying in ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage.’
The show is the newest television series adaptation of a Wondery podcast, joining the ranks of ‘Dr. Death,’ ‘WeCrashed,’ ‘The Shrink Next Door,’ ‘Joe vs. Carole,’ and the inaugural season of FX’s upcoming anthology series ‘American Sports Story,’ which is inspired by the podcast network’s ‘Gladiator.’ ‘Dying For Sex’ was honored with the Best Podcast of The Year award at the Podcast Academy’s inaugural Ambies in 2021.
The executive producers of the project include Meriwether, Rosenstock, Williams, and Headland, along with Katherine Pope (a longtime collaborator of Meriwether), Nikki Boyer (host and co-creator of the ‘Dying for Sex’ podcast), and Wondery executives Jen Sargent, Marshall Lewy, Aaron Hart, and Hernan Lopez. The project has been in the making for several years and gained momentum in the spring but negotiations were put on hold during the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. New York, the principal location of the show, has been a popular entertainment production hub for high-profile projects. Martin Scorsese’s ‘Killers of the Flower Moon‘ and David Fincher’s ‘The Killer‘ are two of the several recently-released projects shot in the state.
Read More: Jude Law and Jason Bateman’s Black Rabbit Begins Filming in New York in April
